Posted By Tom Kensler On November 18, 2011 @ 3:13 pm In Football,Pac-12,University of Colorado | No Comments

BOULDER — Colorado defensive players haven’t seen much of the pistol offense, but they will get a heavy dose of it Saturday against UCLA.

The pistol offense, popularized by the University of Nevada, is a spread formation with the quarterback lined up closer to the line of scrimmage than in a shotgun formation. The tailback sets up behind the quarterback rather than beside him in a shotgun.

It’s designed to enable the quarterback to read the defense and potentially run with the ball. But unlike in a conventional option formation, the QB is back far enough for a better view of what’s happening downfield.

UCLA quarterback Kevin Prince has netted 306 yards rushing out of the pistol.

“You have to be ready for the zone read,” CU senior defensive back Travis Sandersfeld said. “And then they pass out of the zone-read option.

“So you can’t just have guys at the line of scrimmage, because you have threats outside. You have to go in with a game plan where you have everything figured out about what you’re going to do — Who’s got the quarterback, who’s got the option (pitch to the running back), who’s got the guys that can catch the ball.

“It poses some challenges. But we’re going to figure out what to do to stop it.”

Article printed from The Field House: http://blogs.denverpost.com/colleges